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How-To Geek

Before the days of Aero Snap you would need to arrange your Windows in some weird way to see all of your files. Today we show you how to quickly use the Aero Snap feature get it done in few key strokes in Windows 7.

You can of course navigate the windows in Explorer to get them so you can see everything side by side, or use a free utility like Cubic Explorer.

Getting Explorer Windows Side by Side

The process is actually simple but quite useful when looking for a large amount of data. Right-click the Windows Explorer icon on the taskbar and click Windows Explorer.

Our first window opens up and you can certainly drag it over the the right or left side of the screen but the quickest method we’re using is the “Windows Key+Right Arrow” key combo (make sure to hold the Windows key down). Now the Windows is nicely placed on the right side.

Next we want to open the other window, simply right-click the Explorer icon again and click Windows Explorer.

Now we have our second window open, and all we need to do this time is use the Windows Key+Left Arrow combination.

There we go! Now you should be able to browse your files a lot more simply than relying on the expanding tree method (as much).

You can actually use this method to snap a window to all four corners of your screen if you don’t feel like dragging it. Once you play with Aero Snap more you may enjoy it, but if you still despise it, you can disable it too!

Comments (7)

I wouldnt mind Aero Snap if it worked properly. It just seems that if the window is already snapped and I either try to resize it or move it slightly I get a ‘WM_RESIZING ERROR’ and the entire program or window shuts down. Now that gets annoying!

@mak,
I have the Windows 7 Taskbar tweaker, I believe I found a link to it on this site. Since I use the middle click to close tabs in Firefox, chrome, and a small application on WinXP to close apps in the taskbar, it was counter-intuitive for me to use middle click in Win7. The taskbar tweaker that I mentioned earlier allows me to use middle click to close, and ctrl click can open a new instance.

MS’s idea was good, but I need a space between the two Explorer windows to be able to drop files, eg, onto a POP3 emailer. Still good to get your windows set up, then slightly narrow the right window. Quicker than moving and resizing the whole window without Snap.

As with previous Windows versions, you can open any two (or more) windows, right-click the task bar and show them side by side, etc. The only difference is the language: Now it’s “stacked” or “side by side” instead of horizontal or vertical. (Microsoft is trying to dumb down, apparently.)

After reading this article I always Win+Left or Right now to snap two windows side by side. Much easier than Vista’s way, or what I was doing previously in Win7 (which was to try to drag-n-snap, causing the error I talked about in the opening comment).

GEEK TRIVIA

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